Machine for hulling and breaking cotton-seed.



PATENTED MAY 19, 1903.l

M. I'. WILLIAMS. MACHINE POR HULLING AND BREAKING COTTON SEED.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 17, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1..

N0 MODEL.

Mimi? Z'i/mms,

PATENTED MAY 19, 1903.`

M. E. WILLIAMS. MACHINE EOE HULLING AND BREAKING COTTON SEED.

APPLICATION FILED No.1?, 1901.

z SHEETS-'SHEET 2.

No MODEL.

UI\IITED`A STATES' Patented May 19, 1903.

.PATENT l OFFICE.

MILTON F. WILLIAMS, OF STI LOUIS, MISSOURI, .ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAMS PATENT CRUSHER &`PULVERIZER COMPANY, OF. ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,

I A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

'MACHINE FORHULLING ANIA) BREAKING COTTON-SEED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 728,843, dated May 19, 1903.

Application filed December 17, 1901. Serial No. 86,251. (No model.)

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact' description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to no make and use the same, -reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a central sectional elevation.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation'. Fig. 3 is a top plan 1.5 View, partly in section; and Fig. 4 is an end elevation.

My invention relates to machines for hulling and breaking cotton-seedV and the like, my objects being to provide an apparatus of 2o simple construction and operation by which the hulls are loosened from the seed, only material of a predetermined fineness is delivered from the apparatus, the lint which may be lu pon the seed when fed into-the machine is 2 5 separated and caught, easy passage of the operating blades or paddles is insured, and congestion .in the operating-chamber is prevented notwithstanding the'amount of material fed into the same.

lTo these ends and also to improve generally upon machines of the character indicated my invention consists in the various matters hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring now more particularlysto the l drawings, A represents the frame, which is open at its top and bottom and lits over a bin B or a chute leading to such a bin-or any other suitable receptacle or placeto which the hulled seed and the broken hulls are to 4o be conveyed. Suitably supported upon said frame is a spiral casing C, which forms an operating-chamber c. The greater portion of the periphery of this casing isv preferably formed by an integral casing-plate, thev upper portion c of which isilnp'erforate, while the lower portion c2 of the plate is perforated to produce a screen. lFrom the inner end of the spiral the casing-plate is bent outwardly and engages under ashoulder a upon an npgo'right a on the frame, a space being leftbe-v .y tween this upright and the'outer end of the casing-plate, said space forming a dischargeopening c3. A horizontal door C', pivotally secured at the said outer end of the casingplate, is connected to an outwardly-extending arm c4,.upon which is adjustably secured a weight c5, which holds the doornormally closed, with its'inner end abutting under an outwardly-extending shoulder a2 upon the said upright a'. End plates C2 close the sides of the operating-chamber, and said plates are provided about the hereinaftermentioned shaft with openings c6 and c7, from one of which openings extends theI hopper C, while the other is provided with a gate C4, slidable 6g in guides o8 on the end plate, said gate serving to close or to adjust the effective size of said opening.

Appropriately journaled upon the frame and extending across the operating-chamber is ashaft D, upon which are ixed supports d, and to these supports" (as by means of vthrough-bolts d) are pivoted blades or beaters E. s

A box F, having screen-wallsf, is connected to the frame A (or to some other suitable point in the delivery-channel of the material from the before-mentioned operating-chamber) by a pipe G, and vin the frame is a defleetor-plate A', which extends downwardly and inwardly across the receiving end of said pipe, an opening between the pipe and the channel trave'sed by the seed delivered from the operating-chamber being left below said deiiectorplate. 85

Cotton-seed in the condition in which it comes from the gin is fed through the hopper into thev operating-cham ber and is struck by the rapidly-revolving beaters E, the hulls being loosened or tornfrom the seed and the 9o seed and broken -hulls of sucient Iineness falling or being forced through the apertures 4 in the perforated casing portion. Those seed and hulls which are too large to pass through said apertures are broken by the beaters or are carried around by centrifugal action of said beaters, so that they are successively subjected to the beating or breaking action. and brought over the screen until reduced suiciently to pass through its openih'gs. As roo before indicated, the casing is eccentric with` respect to the beaters, and said beaters most nearly approach the screen atv the end first approached by one of the beaters in its revolution, the said end being that from which the casing-plate is bent outwardly to engage the shoulder a. Thus the space between the screen and the line described by the outer end of the beaters gradually widens in the direction of rotation of the beaters; and the material acted upon therefore does not clog between the beaters and the screen. The outwardly-turned end o9 of the casing-plate and the door O form ashelf upon which material is deposited by the beaters in their rotary action, said material banking upon the shelf and then falling into the path of the beaters to be further acted upon by them. The weight c being properly set, however, the door will open when any predetermined amount of material is thrown upon it, and thus congestion in the operating-chamber is prevented notwithstanding the amount of V other articles which cannot pass through the material fed into the same. Furthermore, if the feed is nicely proportioned to the output of the machine practically only those seed or has acertain amount of lint left upon it.

' The beaters tear or otherwise separate this lint from the soed,l and it passes with the other material through the openings in the casing-screen. The opening c7 in the end plate of the casing being suitably|uncovered, the rapidly revolving beaters act as' fanblades, and air is drawn in through said opening and forced out through the casing-screen with the material which has been acted upon by the beaters. Thence the air-current is through the pipe G and into the screen-box F, the air carrying the lint and depositing it upon the screens f, from which it can be collected in any suitable manner. the intensity ofthe air-current, and consequently the fnenessof the lint carried thereby against the screens f, can be regulated by the gate C4.

I am aware that many minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my device can be made and substituted for those herein'shown and described without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is r 1. In a machine of the character indicated,

Manifestly an operating-chamber having a dischargeopening therefrom, grinding members in said chamber, a door upon which said material is thrown by said grinding members, said door closing said opening and forming a shelf, and means whereby said door is caused to open by material delivered thereupon; substantially as described. l

2. In a machine of the character indicated, an operating-chamber having a dischargeopening therefrom, rotatable grinding members in said chamber, a door upon which the material is thrown by said grinding members, said door closing said opening and forming a shelf, and means for'yieldingly holding said door closed against the weight of the material supported thereby, whereby the door can be opened by the weight of its supported materialand is automatically returned to closed position; substantially as described.

3. In a machine of the character indicated, an operating-chamber havingl a spiral peripheral wall, an outwardly-opening door forming a shelf between the ends of the spiral, and a rotatable beater within said chamber; substantially as described.

4. `In a machineof the character indicated, a frame, an operating-chamber having a spiral peripheral wall, a plate on said frame and extending into the space between the ends of the spiral, oppositely-extending shoulders on said plate, a plate lconnected to the inner end of said chamberwall and extending outwardly under one of said shoulders, a suitably-pivoted door spanning the space between the other of said shoulders and the outer end -of the spiral and having its free end resting under said shoulder, said door forming a shelf, means for yieldingly holding said door closed, and a rotatable beater in said chamber; substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus of the character indicated, a casing containing means for operating upon the seed and having a discharge through which the reduced material is delivered, a deflector below said discharge, the reduced material being delivered upon one side of said detlector, and a lint-pipe upon the other side of said defiector an'd communicating around thelower end of said deector with the space into which the reduced material falls after leaving said casing; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my IIO 

